2025 NHL Draft Thread

[u2wojo]

It's Schaefer at 1 and Hagens at 2 for me as well.

I think it;s all going to depend on what team finds themselves picking at 1 to see if they take Schaefer there or not. I know that I want the Hawks to take him there if they wind up with the 1st selection.

That being said, I wouldn't exactly be disappointed if they ended up with Hagens, either.

I don't think you can pass on Schaefer if you have a chance to take him, or you probably will be disappointed. He is a pretty clear cut #1D where the rest of our D prospects ceiling seems to be a #2 and more likely #3 if we are being objective and honest with ourselves. Little guarantee all or even most of our D prospect hit their ceiling, in fact if you are betting on Lev, Korchinski, Rinzel, I would be happy to end up with a top pairing, a middle pairing, and a good bottom pairing guy and no busts. Worst "problem" is you take Schaefer and all of our D prospects including him end up near their ceiling and you have an embarassment of riches to trade from a postion of strength to address needs.

 

[Chuck Testa]

I don't think you can pass on Schaefer if you have a chance to take him, or you probably will be disappointed. He is a pretty clear cut #1D where the rest of our D prospects ceiling seems to be a #2 and more likely #3 if we are being objective and honest with ourselves. Little guarantee all or even most of our D prospect hit their ceiling, in fact if you are betting on Lev, Korchinski, Rinzel, I would be happy to end up with a top pairing, a middle pairing, and a good bottom pairing guy and no busts. Worst "problem" is you take Schaefer and all of our D prospects including him end up near their ceiling and you have an embarassment of riches to trade from a postion of strength to address needs.

Oh don't get me wrong... the only way I wouldn't take Schaefer would be if he was already picked. In that scenario, give me Hagens.

But other than that it's Schaefer all the way.

 

[CallMeShaft]

You take Schaefer and run. The Hawks have no legit PP QB and no true #1 D in the pipeline. I doubt KK becomes a top pairing guy, Levshunov hopefully becomes a Brent Seabrook level of player, and Rinzel is a solid player, but unlikely to be a #1 guy

Lev absolutely has higher potential than what you are suggesting.

And he is very likely capable of being a legit QB on the top PP unit. He's the youngest defender in the AHL, playing his rookie season, and is leading all defenders in shots on goal. He's averaging 2.88sog per game right now. Getting shots through is one of the absolute biggest things you need from a guy running the point and he's excelling at it in Rockford.

 

[TLEH]

I honestly don't even like Martone that much.

Schaefer

Misa/Hagens

After that Martone I guess. I actually like McQueen more than Martone when healthy, but zero interest in McQueen with back issues.

 

[deytookerjaabs]

Speaking of Lev, I remember the big argument for him is that the Spartans were a bad team and he put them on his back all by himself bla bla bla. So far it looks like the Spartans are even better this year and a top team at that.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Martone has best PPG in OHL and is 4th in GPG. He can likely survive a bad WJC where he's on 4th line, imo. Did a sanity check to make sure he's got the best numbers on his team including assist numbers with a couple of good junior players in Rehkopf and Misa's brother that he's outperformed.

Honestly just make sure you pick top 4. I still don't see a lot of separation. They're all really good. So it's not one guy or bust. Schaefer is a D and requires the highest relative rank leaguewide to justify a 1st overall, which is hardest to project out and with the mono and now injury he will have the least amount of draft year film.

 

[Muffinalt]

I honestly don't even like Martone that much.

Schaefer

Misa/Hagens

After that Martone I guess. I actually like McQueen more than Martone when healthy, but zero interest in McQueen with back issues.

No Eklund? I thought he'd be your type of player.

 

[ello]

Lev absolutely has higher potential than what you are suggesting.

And he is very likely capable of being a legit QB on the top PP unit. He's the youngest defender in the AHL, playing his rookie season, and is leading all defenders in shots on goal. He's averaging 2.88sog per game right now. Getting shots through is one of the absolute biggest things you need from a guy running the point and he's excelling at it in Rockford.

Hands, creativity, vision, deception, timing and a hard/accurate shot are much more important than just being a high volume shooter. Are Josi/Makar/Fox/Hughes/Hedman good QB's because they get shots through? That's like the bare minimum.

Levshunov's way of creating offense has ALWAYS been chucking tons of low wrist shots on net (according to film ive seen from the NCAA) and the difference is this year he's not getting the bounces he got last year that inflated his point total.

He has lots of good tools but I don't see anything that suggests that he's someone I want on the powerplay

 

[TLEH]

No Eklund? I thought he'd be your type of player.

Haven’t seen him enough to have a real opinion

 

[CallMeShaft]

Hands, creativity, vision, deception, timing and a hard/accurate shot are much more important than just being a high volume shooter. Are Josi/Makar/Fox/Hughes/Hedman good QB's because they get shots through? That's like the bare minimum.

Levshunov's way of creating offense has ALWAYS been chucking tons of low wrist shots on net (according to film ive seen from the NCAA) and the difference is this year he's not getting the bounces he got last year that inflated his point total.

He has lots of good tools but I don't see anything that suggests that he's someone I want on the powerplay

Low wrist shots are great for deflecting and tipping in pucks. It's not a bad skill to have at the point.

 

[Muffinalt]

Would you guys be happy if KD tried to pull off what he couldn't last year?

Go for both Schaefer and one of the other forwards too by trading next year's and additional picks?

We definitely need quality over quantity at this point, and while we are in no rush yet, I'd argue the timing it's starting to matter a little bit.

I think this year is actually better timing for it than last.

Both Hagens and Misa are KD type players and would be amazing with Bedard. Schaefer is the perfect KD type defenseman.

Plus there is now two forwards vs just the 1 Demidov.

McKenna is McKenna I know, but I'd be pretty excited for a successful trade up. Hagens and Misa are no slouches either, not that Demidov was (it still hurts).

 

[ClydeLee]

Would you guys be happy if KD tried to pull off what he couldn't last year?

Go for both Schaefer and one of the other forwards too by trading next year's and additional picks?

We definitely need quality over quantity at this point, and while we are in no rush yet, I'd argue the timing it's starting to matter a little bit.

I think this year is actually better timing for it than last.

Both Hagens and Misa are KD type players and would be amazing with Bedard. Schaefer is the perfect KD type defenseman.

Plus there is now two forwards vs just the 1 Demidov.

McKenna is McKenna I know, but I'd be pretty excited for a successful trade up. Hagens and Misa are no slouches either, not that Demidov was (it still hurts).

IF they win the lottery, yeah because they can't win it for another 3 years...

But it's shakey because idk where you get the offense to not be bottom 5. Like, if that have Marner or someone locked in. Or a trade of someone for Korch agreed to only

 

[GIADF]

I honestly don't even like Martone that much.

Basically where I’m getting to the more I read about these kids.

Like I’d be fine if we took him if we are drafting 4th. I’d be very disappointed if we were top 3 and drafted him, though.

 

[Giovi]

Would you guys be happy if KD tried to pull off what he couldn't last year?

Go for both Schaefer and one of the other forwards too by trading next year's and additional picks?

We definitely need quality over quantity at this point, and while we are in no rush yet, I'd argue the timing it's starting to matter a little bit.

I think this year is actually better timing for it than last.

Both Hagens and Misa are KD type players and would be amazing with Bedard. Schaefer is the perfect KD type defenseman.

Plus there is now two forwards vs just the 1 Demidov.

McKenna is McKenna I know, but I'd be pretty excited for a successful trade up. Hagens and Misa are no slouches either, not that Demidov was (it still hurts).

Trading our first for the McKenna draft is crazy talk. A fireable offense.

 

[Darkstar]

I still like Martone a lot. A guy with his size that isn't just a North/South player, but has really good hands and playmaking ability? Yeah, I'll take that and stick him next to Bedard for the next 10+ years. That said, I still think Schaefer is the clear best player and the best Dman prospect that I've seen in a while.

 

[razor ray]

If the Hawks can some pick Schaefer then I would imagine they package the Leafs 1st and early 2nd to move up to pick the best forward of the draft they can. The top 4 D for the future would be set but the top 6 forward group needs help. Depth beyond that is covered as well.

Leaf's are always reliable to choke in the playoffs so that pick might be in the low 20s. Trade that and pick #33 to move up as much as possible.

 

[Clownish]

Trading our first for the McKenna draft is crazy talk. A fireable offense.

Then offer the following year's first. Sure, it wouldn't have as much value, but everyone would assume the Hawks are still bad, yet hopefully by that year they would be barely a lottery team, especially if they finally built a top line via such a move + free agency.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

If the Hawks can some pick Schaefer then I would imagine they package the Leafs 1st and early 2nd to move up to pick the best forward of the draft they can. The top 4 D for the future would be set but the top 6 forward group needs help. Depth beyond that is covered as well.

Leaf's are always reliable to choke in the playoffs so that pick might be in the low 20s. Trade that and pick #33 to move up as much as possible.

ImO, that only gets to 15'ish, if you are lucky. And probably not even that depending on the Leafs pick.

Said another way, IMO you can't expect to turn the Leafs pick into a blue chip asset without including the 2026 1st.

 

[TheFridge]

Hands, creativity, vision, deception, timing and a hard/accurate shot are much more important than just being a high volume shooter. Are Josi/Makar/Fox/Hughes/Hedman good QB's because they get shots through? That's like the bare minimum.

Levshunov's way of creating offense has ALWAYS been chucking tons of low wrist shots on net (according to film ive seen from the NCAA) and the difference is this year he's not getting the bounces he got last year that inflated his point total.

He has lots of good tools but I don't see anything that suggests that he's someone I want on the powerplay

Most 19 year old D would struggle to find opportunities to shoot as first year pros, nevermind being anything close to a volume shooter. It is impressive that Levshunov has been able to put as much at the net as he's been able to; that is a skill in it's own right.

When I watch Lev, I haven't seen a high-end #1 in the mold of a Hughes or Makar but he does possess a lot of traits that could make him a workhorse top-pairing D.

 

[HawksDub89]

Speaking of Lev, I remember the big argument for him is that the Spartans were a bad team and he put them on his back all by himself bla bla bla. So far it looks like the Spartans are even better this year and a top team at that.

The big argument? From who? Lol

 

[CallMeShaft]

I think, fit wise, Misa makes so much sense for us. Already 6ft1, plays with a lot of pace, PPG upside, can play C/W so we've got options there.

I'll take any of the four, gladly. At least at this point in time anyways.

 

[ColbyChaos]

If you think Schaefer projects as the next Makar or Hughes, then fine you have to take him.

But that’ll make Davidson’s life that much harder, because you can’t wait forever to acquire forward talent. He’ll have to get creative to get one another way.

Also don’t like how people instantly assume we will got a top line talent for Korchinski when odds are we don’t lol

You take Schaefer and run. The Hawks have no legit PP QB and no true #1 D in the pipeline. I doubt KK becomes a top pairing guy, Levshunov hopefully becomes a Brent Seabrook level of player, and Rinzel is a solid player, but unlikely to be a #1 guy


You got it wrong with Martone. He thinks the game fast, but his feet are slow. Martone is definitely moving more towards 3-5 range. Not really competing for 1 or 2 rn

Our needs are at forward are 1000% more important than a power play qb lmfao. Schaefer benefits a lot from being the one good dman in a pitiful class of dmen

 

[Clownish]

Some seem to think that since a prospect defenseman is generally worth more than a forward then the Hawks should just try an infinite glitch of drafting one defenseman and trading for 2 forwards as needed.

 

[ColbyChaos]

IF they win the lottery, yeah because they can't win it for another 3 years...

But it's shakey because idk where you get the offense to not be bottom 5. Like, if that have Marner or someone locked in. Or a trade of someone for Korch agreed to only

IF THE TEAM IS IN LAST PLACE WINNING THE LOTTERY FOR FIRST OVERALL DOESNT COUNT FOR THE TOTAL

 

[giza]

Misa, Hagens, Martone.....all bring some needed qualities and would be more than welcome.....I would probably taken them in that order too.